Would entitlement cuts spark a Democratic civil war?
Looming budget battles could divide the Democratic Party's moderates and liberals
Since President Obama's re-election, the Democratic Party has shown remarkable unity, while Republicans have split chaotically over the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling debate, and aid for Hurricane Sandy. Democrats for the most part have lined up behind the president's agenda, including nearly unanimously voting to extend the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $400,000 a year, even when many liberals would have preferred the threshold to be $250,000. But as Congress begins talks over a budget deal to lift the debt ceiling, which may involve cuts to entitlement programs, Democratic solidarity will be tested, according to Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman at Politico:
The Democratic Party has plenty of progressive members in Congress, or what you might call traditional Democrats: Pro-union, anti-Wall Street, big-government. Then there are lawmakers cut in the mold of the above-cited DLC, a group led by Bill Clinton that pushed the party to the center and tried to moderate its tax-and-spend reputation. Indeed, it could be argued that the GOP, though splintering in highly public fashion, is more ideologically coherent — its divisions come from being out of power. As Charles Krauthammer at The Washington Post writes:
However, let's remember that ideological diversity within a party is generally a good thing. As Martin and Haberman point out, it's actually the inevitable result of a party that is expanding. One could argue that the Democratic debate between liberals (who want to defend the safety net) and the center-left pragmatists (who want to reform those programs to cut the budget deficit) essentially reflects the debate the country as a whole is having about entitlements.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Furthermore, the divide within the Democratic Party doesn't have to be reduced to an either/or proposition. The debate is not going to end with Bill Clinton vaunting like Achilles over the corpse of Elizabeth Warren. The Democratic Party can live with these tensions, much like Obama himself has done, expanding Medicaid while proposing Social Security cuts, fighting for unemployment benefits while eliminating federal jobs. It is, as Obama so often to likes to say, a balanced approach to governing.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.
-
'Make legal immigration a more plausible option'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
LA-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail line breaks ground
Speed Read The railway will be ready as soon as 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Israel's military intelligence chief resigns
Speed Read Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first leader to quit for failing to prevent the Hamas attack in October
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published